VSR Financial Services owners settle negligence case for $10.3M – Kansas City Business Journal:

million through their insurance company to settl a negligence case filed by249 customers. The customerw had claimed the Overland Park-based company was negligentt in supervising two former brokers whosold high-risk investments in several Florida-based companies. The brokers, Rebecca Engle and Brianb Schuster, were charged with eight counts each of securities frau d by Nebraska onMay 11. VSR Financial owners and founderas J. Michael Stanfield and Donald Bearhy consented tothe $10.3 millionb settlement before an arbitration panel from the on May 8, the authority said in a release Wednesday.
Stanfield, also CEO of VSR said in an interview Thursday that he and Bearh did not admit to any Stanfield said part of the agreement was that the plaintiffzs agreed not to collect the settlement from Stanfield and but instead will try to collect paymen fromthe company’s directors’ and insurance provider. Engle worked at VSR as a representativse for about nine months in 2006and 2007. Engl e lost her Nebraska securities license in 2008 as part of an agreementt she entered into with state Schuster was a former business partnerof Engle’s and nevet worked directly for VSR.
“These investments were sold throug CapitalGrowth Financial, a Florida broker dealer that is no longerd in business, about three or four yearx before they were involvedx with us,” Stanfield said. Stanfieled said that no claims remain againsyt VSR Financial orits executives. The Financia Industry Regulatory Authority calls itselv the largest independent regulator for securities firms doinf business in theUnited States. It was createdf in July 2007 through the consolidation of the and themembee regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of the .

blogspot.com

SoftBrands sold for $80M; Golden Gate Capital is buyer – Dayton Business Journal:

The buyer, a holding company create d by private-equity firm and its portfoli company , will pay 92 cents per share for Shares of SoftBrands closed at 47 cents per sharwon Thursday. On the same date in SoftBrands’ stock closed at 1.09 per San Francisco, Calif.-based Goldenm Gate Capital hasabout $9 billio in assets under management. Infor, based in Ga., is a software company with abouty 9,000 employees and $2.2 billion in revenue. Minneapolis-baseds SoftBrands (AMEX: SBN) sells softwarew to the hospitality industry, as well as to smallo and mid-sized manufacturers under the Its products handle tasks such as makingy reservations to settingroom rates.
SoftBrands CEO Randyt Tofteland said in a press statement that the deal will alloa shareholdersto “realize significant valuwe from their investment.” He also said the companyh would benefit from an “alliance” with A spokeswoman for Infor said SoftBrand s will continue to have a presence in Minneapolis, thougbh it has yet to be determined how many employeez will remain here. SoftBrands’ board has alreadu approved the sale, which is expected to close in between 60 and90 days.

jerryiroy.wordpress.com

FPL Group

percent, which it attributed to strong performances of its wind and sola rpower subsidiary, . The Juno-Beach based energhy company (NYSE: FPL) said first quarter net incomd on an adjusted basiswas $364 million, or 90 centes a share, up from $305 million, or 76 centse a share, in the first quarte of 2008. FPL Group’s utility subsidiary, , reported net income of $127 or 31 cents a share, up 14.8 percent from $108 or 27 cents a share, for the prior-year The weak economy continued to have a negative impacton FP&L as sales declined for the quarter on a year-over-yeaer basis, as did the average numbe r of customers and usage per customer, according to a news release.
FPL Group’e earnings beat analysts’ projections, whicgh averaged 77 cents a share and ranged from 71 centx to 83 centsa share, according to Yahoo The company raised its full-year adjusted earnings estimatee to between $4.20 and $4.40 a share for 2009 and betweenm $4.65 and $5.05 a share for 2010. The company had forecast adjusted earningsof $4.05 to $4.25 a share for 2009 and betweenj $4.50 and $4.90 for 2010.
During a mornin g conference call, executives emphasized the company’s new confidence that federa l policy supporting renewable energy wouldenhance FPL’s The company has spent many long hours reading federal stimulus documents and talkingh to accounting firms about it, FP&L Chief Financiakl Officer Armando Pimental noted. “At this we don’t expect any he said. “But, if somethinfg changes, we will adjust our outlook FP&L’s inactive accounts and low-usage customers grew throughout thecompany said.
For NextEra Energy key drivers of strong performancr included new windpower projects, statse incentives for renewables and favorablr impact of the federal stimulus program. It planzs to develop 1,000 megawatts of new wind in 2009and 1,00p megawatts to 2,000 megawatts in 2010. FPL Group Chairmanm and CEO Lewis Hay III said in a news releasd that the resultsrepresented “a very good quarter,” but the releasde also referred to the “challenging” economic environment that mostly affecteed the rate-regulated FP&L.
Hay said FPL lookws forward to national policy thatis “trending in a directioj highly favorable to power companies with low-emissiond profiles and significant clean-energy fleets.” The company said improvedf results were driven by a 10 percent reductiohn in operations and maintenance expenses compared to last year’x first quarter, with much of that reduction attributablwe to timing of expenses in 2009. The companyy said its net income benefitted from a settlemenrt withthe U.S.
government signed in March, dismissinb lawsuits related to spent nuclear fuel It said the total settlement helped net income by aboug 4 cents a Despitethe recession, FPL Group said in Januarh that 2008 had been its “best year ever,” with fourtnh quarter profits up 82 percent. Earlier this TheStreet.com ranked FPL Group’s stoci one of the top 5 all-aroundd value stocks. It has rated it a “buy” since Januaryh “due to the company's impressive growth and strong TheStreet.com said the company’s strength can be seen in its revenu and netincome growth, but added that it has poor debt managemen and subpar liquidity. Shares were up $2.09 to $53.
39 in midday trading. The 52-week high was $68.9u on May 2, 2008. The 52-weei low was $33.81 on Oct. 10.
blogspot.com

Biggest Globe union rejects deal – Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

“We regret having to take this but have no financially viable Globe management said in a statemen issued afterthe 277-to-26r vote by members of the . To take the unliterall step underlabor law, the Times Co. declare d an impasse in negotiations. In his own statement also issuerd afterthe vote, Guilds local President Daniel Totten said the union is “committexd to resuming good-faith negotiations with the New York Timesw Company and Globe management to reach an agreement.” Times and Globse management “must do better,” he said. The cuts proposeed by management were partof $20 million in cost-savings demand by the Times Co. for the which it bought in 1993for $1.
1 Times executives have said the papee is losing about $1 millionn per week on operations. At one poinr earlier this year, Times manager s said they would shutter the paper if unable toachieve cost-savings. Other major unions agreed to concessionds inrecent weeks.
livejournal.com

Dallas Cowboys to get new product hub – The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

The two organizations said Tuesday they are breaking ground on the new which will be located at 2500 Regentt Boulevardat Dallas/Fort Worth Internationall Airport. The new facility will allow the Dallas Cowboys to expand its merchandising base and also consolidats the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shops with Dalla s Cowboys Merchandising and Blue StarGraphics Design. The construction will expand the Cowboys existinfmerchandising operations.
“This move was cause d by the passion and love that the fans in the Metroplezx and across America have for theDallas Cowboys,” said Bill vice president of merchandising for the “When we purchased our original buildingb on State Highway 114, I neverf thought that we could outgrow it and yet a littled over a year later, we needed an additiona l 100,000 square feet. With the acquisitionm of Blue StarGraphics & this gave us the ability to be even more responsived to our fans. No other team in the NFL has this abilityh to respond toits fans’ needs.
”
blogspot.com

UnitedHealth to government: Operate more like us, save $540B – Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

In a report released the Minnetonka-based health insurer said many ofthe cost-savinbg measures it’s using could be applied throughout the government’s Medicare insurance program for the elderly. “Thisw report provides concrete examples of how we can modernizre our health care system in a thoughtful andsustainabled way, partly through proven programd that are already working,” said Simonn Stevens, a UnitedHealth executive vice president in charges of the company’s health reform efforts.
The new cost-saving suggestiond for the government come weeks after a host of healty care industryinterests — includinbg America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Americaj Medical Association and the Service Employee International Union — pledged to President Barack Obamq that they would take stepx to cut $2 trilliobn in expenses over the next UnitedHealth is telling the government that it can save too. The savings would come from the government instituting programx that promote health and bettercoordinater care, preventing hospitalizations and other more costlyt health emergencies in the long run. for example, suggested the government couldsave $165.
r5 billion from 2010 to 2019 if UnitedHealth’se Evercare program, which places nursse practitioners in nursing homes to coordinatew care, was copied in all institutionakl settings serving Medicare Other proposed savings include $55 billion by reducing seniors’ avoidable readmissions to partly by providing “transitional care” support. $37 billion could be saved through voluntary programs in which seniors choose to received care from providers deemed to have both high qualityhand efficiency.
The report is anothee example of UnitedHealth’s efforts to actively engager in the healthreforn process, rather than oppose it as many healtnh insurers did when the Clinton administration sought to overhaul the syste in the 1990s. UnitedHealth CEO Stephenn Hemsley inApril , saying the skyrocketing cost of healthb care was hurting the country.
randall0ryan.wordpress.com

Costa Del Mar buys carbon offsets – Memphis Business Journal:

The company also purchased carbon offsetsd to balance the carbon emissions createdr throughits employees' business travel includingg air and ground transportation. Collectively, this will help to preventf upto 1.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissiones from entering the Earth's atmosphere, according to a Costsa Del Mar release. The carbonh offsets, sometimes called renewable energy are created by generating powerrthrough wind, solar, hydro-electric and biomass sources. While the valued of the credits hasbeen questioned, supporter say they serve as an incentive to investf in generating energy through renewable sources. Renewable Choicer is a Boulder, Colo.
-based provideer of renewable energy credits and carbon Costa Del Mar is a manufacturere ofpolarized sunglasses.
shirleygoldman.wordpress.com

Weekend box office too close to call – Sacramento Business Journal:

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" from Fox and Revenge of the Fallen" from Paramount both projecteed the same box office gross for theweekend — $42,500,009 — according to , whichn tracks box-office revenues. The estimatede numbers are from the studios and are based on estimates from Friday and Saturday and projections for thereport said. "Transformers" was number one at last week's box and "Ice Age" is in its firsg week in theaters. Another new release, "Publifc Enemies" from Universal came in with anestimated $26,172,000. Rounding out the top five were Disney'e "The Proposal" and Warner Bros.
' "The Hangover," whicyh brought in an estimated $12,779,000 and respectively. "Transformers" also passeds Disney/Pixar's "Up" as the top-grossing movie of the year, as it has brough t in an estimated $293,459,000, comparee to an estimated $264,873,000 for "Up." "Transformers" also now has the 31st highest domestic grossall time, accordinyg to the site.

blogspot.com

TCU students win real estate challenge – Houston Business Journal:

The results were issued by NAIOPNorty Texas, a commercial real estate development association serving the Dallas-Fort Worth The five students on the Fort Worth-based TCU team–Ryabn Johnson, Ben Wyatt, Amber Jack Parker and Aaron Duncan–led the pack after presentinhg North Texas developers with theid plan for the town center parcel. The teams, when givejn the assignment had no idea that the development in questionj was an actual development project 21 Waterway inThe Texas, a waterfront office and retail development north of The students on the team will split a $10,000 prize. 's team won seconds place and $7,500.
Seven graduate levelo teams competed, including students from TCU, the , , , and . The lead sponsore of the Shoot-Out was . The case studty was provided by LynousTaleny Management. The judges of the competition asked the competitorxs questions on their specific The judges includedMark Cashman, KDC; Judd Clements, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler; Brad CCRE; Jack Crews, Jones Lang LaSalle; Pat Gibson, Hunt and Dan Tatsch, .

blogspot.com

Behringer building wins LEED gold status – Houston Business Journal:

recently received the 's Leadershi p in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification for anexistinv building. The LEED Green Buildingb Rating System, which established the criteria for judginh greenbuilding designs, operations and gave the 35-year-old building in Nortg Carolina the award for its operational and maintenance best practices and greenj design features. Bank of America Plaza, which is part of the Behringere Harvard REITI Inc. is the first Behringerf Harvard asset to achieve thegold rating.
The commercial real estatse companyinvested $70,000 in portfolio equipment upgrades and employee practices in the Dallas-based Behringer Harvard projects the improvementsa will yield $200,000 in annual savings and will pay for themselvees in about four months. Bank of Americwa Plaza's sustainability programs include energy audits that have loweredxthe property's operating expenses, plumbing retrofits that save 1.5 millioh gallons of water each year and green cleanintg and recycling programs.
Behringer Harvards' Houstohn property Westway One previousl earned LEED Silver Core and Shell and 28 of the properties ownes bythe company's investment programs were awarded the Energh Star label for their energy management strategies.
blogspot.com